arson gangs

Police are asking residents of a Bradford estate to shop gangs of teenagers who are stealing car and setting them on fire.

Since the start of the year there have been four incidents where cars have been stolen and abandoned and set ablaze on the Canterbury estate.

Police believe a group of 14 and 15 year old local youths are responsible but they need more information to catch the culprits.

"Vehicle crime is on the increase in Canterbury over the last month or so," said PC Bob Hoyle, who looks after the estate with colleague PC Simon Binks.

"We want people to tell us who's doing it - we know it's local teenagers, but it's getting out of hand."

Nigel Delaney, a community worker with the Christian charity Impact based at the Canterbury Community Centre, said: "People on the estate have got to make a concerted effort to shop these lads, or point them towards those of us who are trying to help them.

"We believe the culprits are young kids of 16, 17 years of age. They are sadly a bit beyond normal help. They are heavily involved in drugs and other illegal activities and nicking cars seems to be the fad at the moment."

Bernadette Jarvis of the Cabins Community Centre added: "This is such a shame because it's giving the estate a negative image that we don't want. The problem is people won't tell on their next door neighbours - they feel the repercussions of doing that would be far greater than the initial problem."

Station Officer Chris Chapman, of Odsal fire station, which covers the Canterbury estate, said that car fires were becoming "two-a-penny".

He said: "It's an on-going problem throughout the Bradford district.

"It's unfair to highlight Canterbury because it is going on in other areas in the district."

PCs Hoyle and Binks can be contacted on (01274) 376874.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.